Two-Spirit DJ, Tantra Practitioner, and Wellness Retreat Host, dancing between rhythm and reverence. Six years with Gender Blender, leading the charge for 2025 —tending the Fire of Playa’s first BIPOC-only Play Party, a sanctuary for true Liberation & Connection. Walking with my army of Ancestors, I stand as a Priestess of the Sacred, channeling their Strength with Grace. 

I am Ryde, current Build Lead for Gender Blender onplaya appearances. I have been a member of Gender Blender since 2019. I began my transition in 2003 and never looked back. I absolutely love my job and nothing feels better than to build a successful camp each year. I'm a working lead (aka: a human forklift) that hopes to inspire action and participation while making magic!!!

Louise works in international development/social enterprise software development. She currently lives in Portland, Oregon - before that she spent 5 years in sub-saharan Africa writing code to distribute microloans to farmers. She's a Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist, DEFCON volunteer, hiking/biking enthusiast and has strong opinions on the right way to tie a single-column knot 🪢.

I will break my bio into two parts, before and after I realized who I truly was. 1. Mark was a very successful engineer in various technology companies in Silicon Valley. He holds 14 patents. His last job was at Apple. Towards his last year at Apple, something amazing happened. Lisa woke up, after decades of lying hidden and dormant. 2. Lisa came into herself as Mark was nearing retirement. She retired from Apple in June of 2021, and focused on a very different path. She dove into spirituality head first, completing her 13 moon training and is currently studying herbology. She is focusing on bringing her spiritual path to her LGBTQI community and creating a temple. She is pumped to be on the leadership team of Gender Blender!

Ariel (Trixie) is the co-founder of Gender Blender and has been burning since 2005. Ariel has never missed a year on playa except 2020 due to the pandemic. Ariel has been on leadership of Gender Blender for 16 years and on playa for 19 years. Ariel is proud to host Gender Blender play parties off playa and to create radical community oriented performance art with a social justice focus. Ariel is well known for gogo dancing, political theater, drag, and making magic on and off playa. Ariel is so excited for Gender Blender’s 16th year on on playa!

Caleb Castle, aka Gaeleb Mange, is a big-hearted out and proud neurospicy disabled queer yt trans man with a minor in women & gender studies and a BA in Visual / electronic arts from Smith College, where he rediscovered his masc identity, socially transitioning in 2007 and legally/medically transitioning in 2011. He is an Oakland-based tech-savvy creative digital marketer who has devoted the last decade to working in the Bay Area for environmental nonprofits conserving California’s wild and open spaces. He has been volunteering on and off playa and camping with Gender Blender since 2018, His interests include music making, community building, art, and being in nature.